LogFAQs > #978605826

The decision to move him now makes sense because he's entering a contract year, other teams weren't biting on trades for him during the winter, and moving him now relieves the Brewers of any injury risk that might have derailed mid-season trades.

The return is...dubious...for a top of the rotation starter in his prime. Joey Ortiz is listed as a top 100 prospect (#65) by MLB.com and they projected him to start the season in the majors, and DL Hall is a bullpen arm at this point, albeit of the ever-coveted lefty variety. The draft pick sweetens it slightly but it's still a net loss, at least on the surface.

I do wonder of the Brewers have a 2016-18 Cleveland-like farm system of burgeoning arms just waiting to get the call. If that's the case then it's a bit more understandable since one way or another, Burnes wasn't going to finish the season in Milwaukee anyway and building for a 2025-2026 window instead of propping open a closing one this season could be the right call. It's just crazy to see a top pitcher get moved for so little.

Then again, the Brewers getting the low end of a deal seems to be what they do. I'm still thankful for that 2009 Greinke trade that helped form the Royals' young core en route to a pennant in 2014 and a World Series in 2015.